MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Oregon, Sunday, December 14, 1938
Afghanistan Seen As Country Where West Becomes Orient
Editor' Note: "AfehanisLan-
im" In tne jargon or journalists
Is a, nasty word which means
that a newspaper in its news
coverage and editorial columns
Is more concerned with events
and controversies far from home
than with the local scene. Not
withstanding this, the Mail Trio
one takes pleasure in presenting
today the first article in a new
series by Jerry Liebman. 29-year-old
Medford man current
ly on a trip around the world
The subject of this series-Afghanistan.
Liebman, the son of Mr. and
Mrs. Manuel Liebman. 4262 Col
ver rd., was educated in Med
ford schools. He then studied at
Harvard Collge, the Harvard
Graduate School of Design, and
the Erole des Beaux Arts in Pa
ris. He Is on leave this year
from E. E. Poor and comoanv.
New York City, where he is em
ployed as an architect, designer
and engineer.
By JERRY LIEBMAN
Afghanistan, to me, is the
country where the Occident
changes into the Orient. West
becomes East, and the Arab'
burnoose is exchanged for the
Indian turban. Middle East
ern black and brown hued
clothing takes on the hum
mingbird colors of the exotic
East.
Of course, the Middle East
is not the Western world as
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we in Europe and America
think of it. And yet Jordan,
Iraq and their fellow Arab
countries partake more of the
Occident than of the Orient.
Who can draw the line that
separates the Occident and
Orient? The Middle East does
not have the certain exotic
something, the spicy dash of
color, that can be felt in the
true Orient. It is. after all, a
matter of atmosphere that de
fines East and West.
Afghanistan partakes of
both and adds as a third in
gredient a distinct Mongol
touch of southwest Asia. A
mysterious, rich atmosphere
results which is uniquely
Afghanistan.
Personal Attachment
I have had an odd personal
attachment to Afghanistan
since childhood, an attach
ment that had rooted I don't
know how and that has stayed
in me strongly enough to
force my visit to this un
believable country. It has
been extremely difficult to
reach Afghanistan: I mean
the sheer difficulty of travel
money and business commit
ments in America aside.
Afghanistan has been open
to the Western traveller only
within the last few years and
ground travel has only recent
ly risen above the camel cara
van. As a matter of fact, the
camel is far from being out
moded.
It's quite true that Afgha
nistan is busily engaged in
building a national airline and
air traffic increases daily. The
visitor, such as myself, who
wishes to see the country inti
mately and thoroughly, how
ever, is faced with hardships
and problems since he insists
on ground travel.
The traveller foolish enough
to bring his car into the coun
try soon finds himself with
broken pile of expensive met
al on his hands. Even motor
cycles give Afganistan a wide
berth and drivers prefer to
travel through Pakistan, far
south of Afghanistan's fright
ful roads.
A jeep and Land Rover are
the only two vehicles strong
enough to stand the punish
ment of roads that are only
tracks across a desert or a
gulley in the mountains. The
jeep driver must bring his
own gasoline and spare parts
HARRY L. POTTER
PART II
In our last column, we discussed
the first two "C's" of diamond
buying Carat and Cut.
The third "C" that comes into
prominence in diamond buying is
Color. The term "bluewhite" i a
misnomer and al thou eh stones
tinged with blue do exist, they are
quite rare. The traditional engage
ment ring has a white stone, and
to date, over 200 different shades
of white have been found. The
whiter the white, the more ex
pensive the stone. There are quite
a few different diamond colors in
cluding green, pink, black and
brown and some of the world's
most famous diamonds are not
white.
The fourth and final "C" is dia
mond Clarity. A good diamond
should have fine clarity and there
- should be no fissures, carbon spots
or other flaws visible to the naked
eye. A so-called "perfect diamond'
is one which has no visible flaws
to the trained eye under ten power
magnification. Minor flaws, invi
sible to the naked eye, won't af
fect the gem's beauty, but will af
fect its price.
Your best insurance against
buying an inferior diamond is a
jeweler whom you can trust and
depend upon. Weisfield's is the
only authorized member of the
Diamond Council of America here
in Medford. and our scientifically
trained staff of qualified Diamon-
tologists and Guild Gemologists
are at your service. When plan
ning your next diamond purchase,
visit Weisfields and be assured
that we provide you with the best
diamond value for your money.
Remember, our Diamond Council
of America" emblem is your assur
ance of quality and value beyond
. compare!
Tool Thefts Are
Reported in City
Two possibly related cases
involving the theft of tools
from Medford service stations
were reported to city police
Thursday.
Jim Joe Hobbs of the Stan
dard Service station, Fourth
st. and Central ave., reported
the theft of tools valued at
about $26.50 Wednesday
night. He noted that four men
in a vehicle had driven into
his station, and that two had
left the car while he was
putting air in the tires.
James Cleo Weter of Weter
and Olson Service station,
1258 South Riverside ave., re
ported the theft of a tool box
and tools the same night. He
said three men in a vehicle
had driven into the station
shortly after midnight and
asked for gas on credit. He
said one left the car to go to
the rest room while he was
putting in the gas.
since gas stations are, on the
average, some 250 miles apart
Spare .parts are a dream and
must be flown in by request
No bridges exist and so rain
halts traffic for days at a time
There is a bus service of
sorts. That is, a bus may run
two or three times a week
with luck and good weather,
but before you leap to buy
your tickets for Afghanistan
perhaps I should describe
travel on those buses
No Bui Schedule
First of all, there are no bus
schedules. Not only is the
hour of departure unknown
but too often the day. This
does not mean that no one
knows exactly when the bus
will leave. On the contrary,
every bystander is certain he
knows and what is more, is
very willing to tell you. The
fact is that only the driver
knows and then only when his
key is in the ignition
This makes it impossible to
say the bus is late, because to
be late there must be a sched
ule, which there decidedly is
not. No good for the passenger
to complain because he can
easily find himself walking.
The driver is very much the
captain of the ship and pas
sengers are to be seen, not
heard. His word is law.
As the driver is the Big
Man of his village the greatest
ambition of any boy is to be
a bus driver. Next best, the
driver's helper
A peculiar function of the
driver's helper in Afghanistan
is to ride hanging onto the
rear of the bus. When the bus
is going up a hill, which is
usually, the helper runs be
hind with a huge triangular
chock of wood, ready to shove
it behind the rear wheel if
the bus falters (which is usual
ly). The helper's . duties in
clude placing baggage on top
of the bus. Almost all baggage
is carried on a rack exposed
to sand, sun, and storms and
the sand, powder fine, has an
insidious way of creeping into
the tightest suitcase.
Add Assortment
, An odd assortment is this
topside baggage: sheap, ducks,
tents, huge bundles of cloth
ing, hay, bedsteads and, in
short, every item of the house
hold. When an Afghan travels,
he travels. On top of the bag
gage are piled the passengers
who couldn't afford seats be
low. The record for upstairs
riders was set, to my knowl
edge, between Herat and Kan
daher when 18 men clung,
teetering and swaying, on top
of all the baggage.
At that, they were safer
than those of us inside. This
same bus, which was typical
of all Afghan buses, seated
six abreast inside wnn no
aisle space. Each passengfer
could rest only one shoulder
at a time against the wooden
back of the bench since to
seat six abreast meant each
man sat diagonally, first class
included. When the time came
to switch shoulders, the bench
load of Afghans resembled
the Roxy chorus dancing in
unison.
The most frightening part
of riding inside the bus was
having thick, solid iron bars
across each window. Escape
in case of emergency was im
possible except through the
one front door. No such thing
as an emergency escape door.
Often Sport Labels
The wooden bus bodies are
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designed and built in Afghan
istan on truck beds. These
homemaid buses often sport
"Made in America" labels,
stolen from some imported
goods, as the ultimate recom
mendation. I have even seen
a few buses proudly bearing
the plaque of an International
Harvester machine. .
The buses are designed to
carry the. maximum amount
of bodies. Safety . precautions
would be detrimental to this
one, powerful economic aim.
I preferred to travel third
class to be near the rear door.
Something like riding at the
rear of an airplane, safer in
case of crash. The great draw
back to third class is the can
tilever action when the bus
hits a bump (again, which is
usually). These seats are far
out behind the rear axle and
the fulcrum action shoots
heads against the bus roof
like bodies out of a cannon.
Well dented bus roofs (and
heads) prove it.
Bus progress is erratic, de
pending on what friends of
the driver we come upon,
whether anyone feels' like
tea, and, above all, the five
daily prayers all good Mo
hammedans must say. I
looked forward to prayer time
when the bus would, stop and
all passengers pile out. While
prayers are in progress I
stretch joints and massage my
head, good opportunist
Christian that I am.
Try and Stop Me
-By BENNETT CERF-
AN ENGLISH PROFESSOR saw a colleague from the same
department coming his way across the Dartmouth campus
and pulled his friend behind the sanctuary of a spreading elm.
didn't spot us," he whispered
fervently. "He'd talk us to
death." '
The friend chuckled and
reminded the prof, "You're
not exactly the silent type
yourself."
"I know," sighed the pro
fessor. "If I saw myself
coming, I'm afraid Yd duck
out of the way, too!"
A couple of sandwich men
paraded up and down in front
of the internal revenue bureau
in mid-town Manhattan, drum- , , , , ,v
ming up trade. "Let us make up your federal and state tacome tax
reports for you': 15." urges one. His rival walks doggedly behind him,
advertising "Exactly the same service: $3.75."
O 1958. y Bennett Cerf. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
VI
Stockmen Ask Spatz Be Retained
A resolution was passed by sociation work out the propos-
me jacKson iuumy oiuun.-
men's association last week
uring ' Gov.-elect Mark Hat
field to retain Ward Spatz,
Medford,' on the state board
of agriculture.
The resolution was passed
at the annual association
meeting in the Central Point
Grange hall. A total of 87 at
tended. The resolution requested a
representative of Jackson
county be appointed to the
advisory board of the state
department of agriculture
and strongly recommended
that Spatz, a Medford fruit
shipper, be retained. Spatz is
the first man from this coun
ty to be appointed to the
board, association officers
pointed out.
Following considerable dis
cussion on cattle theft, Ed
Coles, Prineville, secretary
for the Oregon Cattlemen's
association, said the OCA is
promoting more workable
brand inspection laws and has
requested the Oregon Bar as-
One of this season's new
outboard motors will have
three cylinders. Another is
claimed to be the first prac
tical outboard diesel.
ed bill.
Coles attended the meeting
with Kent Magruder, Clat
skanie, OGA president.
Chester Is the oldest fettle
ment in Pennsylvania. It wm
founded by the Swedei
1844.
in
Many large factories in Pak
istan are using power devel
oped from supplies of natural
gas.
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Airline stereo hi-fi
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399.95
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A peak achievement in stereo perform
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Your work is easier! Strong suction
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SALE! 1959 AIRLINE 21" console TV
Stereophonic-Hi-Fi
portable plus speaker
Reg. 116.90
Just in time tor Christmas a eompiere
stereo Hi-Fi at outstanding Ward sav
ings! Give your family the unforgettable
listening pleasure of full-depth stereo
sound! Also plays standard records.
SALE! 8-TRANSIS-T0R
AIRLINE RADIO
Plays on flashlight bat
teries. 6'
speaker.
49.88
Tit - ' 'weBsesa ' 0
COMPLETE I Ms lllti
m ' hi-oe vu-rtnv 11
hi ' 1
res
5 DOWN
'9 a month
All the performance of TV
consoles selling for '239.95!
Slim-look TV has aluminized tube for
greater contrast; automatic gain con
trol for steadier pictures. Mahogany
finish. Blond finish 10 more.
'Diagonal measurement
SALE! PORTABLE
4-SPEED PHONO
Bass-treble control,
big speaker, tyt nn
3-tone case. 00
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Tone and vol- in r
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Fringe area perform
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Sweep Telechron clock.
Sensitive radio. Timed appli
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two-speaker radio
Brilliant-toned set has phono
jack plug - in. Ivory or tur
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ONLY 5 OR 10 DOWN HOLDS ANY MAJOR APPLIANCE
NO MONTHLY PAYMENTS TILL FEBRUARY, 1958
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